Multiple door wardrobe



March 27, 1934. A LEONARD MULTIPLE DOOR WARDROBE INVENToR.

Patented Mar. 27, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Circle A Products Corporation,

Ind.

Newcastle,

Application December 17, 1931, Serial No. 581,661 s claims. (c1. 31a-191) This invention relates to a swinging door construction for a receptacle and the like.

The chief object of this invention is to provide a receptacle such as a wardrobe suitable for school purposes and which includes a substantially open front with a plurality of doors,'preferably three or more in number, and arranged in paired door relation, at least two of the adjacent doors being hingedly connected together, all of the doors being movable from aligned position when substantially registering in the plane of the opening of the receptacle into a position substantially transverse thereto and approximately parallel to each other.v

derstood from the accompanying drawing -andv Another object of the invention is to so support and connect said doors that opening or closing of any rone door will automatically and simultaneously open or close respectively all of said doors.

One feature of the invention consists in the particular mechanical connections between the respective doors, or pairs of doors, whereby the same operate in the aforementioned manner.

Another feature of the invention consists in the addition of a blackboard to one or more of the doors and the means for mounting the blackboard upon the supporting door.

The full nature of the invention will be unthe following claims and specification:-

In the drawing, Fig. l is a top planv View of a receptacle, the cover being removed, the-doors being. shown in receptacle closing position by the full lines and in receptacle exposing or open position by the dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of wherein the doors are arranged in a differently '40- paired arrangement.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a wardrobe construction embodying the invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view through a portion of the uppermost mounting and guide for the door.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on line 55 of Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a top plan View of a bell crankarm operator.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view of a link showing in detail a means for adjusting the length thereof.

Fig. 8 is a View in detail of the means pivotally supporting the lower lever arm of a door.

kIn Fig. 1 of the drawing, 10 indicates the back wall of a receptacle having an elongated opening at its front, adapted to be closed by a plurality of doors, herein indicated lgenerally by the numeral 11. The receptacle suitably supports on the back wall l0, shelving 12, the same, however, not extendingV completely from end 14 to end 14 of the receptacle. The purpose of sectionalizing the shelving will be apparent from an examination of Fig. 1. The doors 11 are arranged in Fig. 1 as a plurality of pairs. The four intermediate doors of the six illustrated, are arranged further in pairs, and the second and third and fourth and fifth door are hingedly connected together as at 15. In other words, the adjacent edges of the before mentioned abutting doors are hingedly connected together and are arranged to recede into the receptacle when the doors are opened. The other edges of the doors hingedly connected in pairs are arranged for substantial abutting engagement with the adjacent door edge when the doors are completely closed.

In Fig. 1 there are six doors illustrated and the end doors are not hingedly connected to any adjacent door.

In Fig. 2 there are six doors illustrated and the end doors are hingedly connected to the next adjacent door, thereby forming three pairs of doors with the adjacent edges of the adjacent doors hingedly connected together and the other edges of the hinged doors being arranged for substantial abutment with similar edges of adjacent doors. f

Each of the doorsis mounted upon a pair of lever arms, the upperlever arm being indicated by the numeral 16-see Fig. 3-and the lower being indicated by the numeral 17 and inclined upwardly, as shown. The lower end of the lower lever arm is pivotally supported upon a pedestal 18 positioned within the wardrobe and a considerable distance back from the door when it is closed. Y

AThe lever arms 16 and 17 have a coaxial pivotal connection with the door 11 and the same is positioned an appreciable distance from each side edge of the door and intermediate said edges. As illustrated in Fig. 3, the lever arm 1'7 is connected to the door by a bolt 19, Jthe head 20 of which underlies the bracket 2l carried by the door. The upwardly extending portion of the bolt 19 mounts a pair of adjusting and lock nuts 22V. The door l1 mounts an upper bracket 23 that receives the depending arm 24 of the lever arm 16 pivotally suspended and supported by the fixture 25-see Fig. 4.

Each pair of doors, as before mentioned, is

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hingedly connected together as at 15. Carried by one of the doors adjacent the hinged connection is a bracket 26 that pivotally mounts a roller 27-see Figs. 4 and 5. Roller 27 rolls in a trackway 28 of channel shape which provides a pair of spaced guides, which trackway extends from the rear of the receptacle towardv the front and terminates very' near or at the plane of thedoor opening. Each end oi the guide way is closed by the cushion stop members 29, which cushion the extreme opening and closing movements of the doors. If desired-see Fig. B-an additional door stop 30 may be provided.

To effect simultaneous operation for doors, there is provided an actuating bar or rod 31`tliat` lies substantially parallel to the position of the doors when closed and is reciprocable for door opening and closing and is soarrangedtlatlopeni ing of any door or closing of any door willsimultaneously open all doors or close all doors respectively. The rod 31 has clampingly associated therewith, as at 31a, one end oi' ailever arm 33;

the same being operativelyassociated with the lever 16 of one of the doors of each hingedly connected pair of doors. One of each hingedly coninected pair of' doors may, if desired, be provided with a link 32 that is of adjustable length, asfindicated at 32a, and which is pivotally connected to the door, as at 34, and the other endV of they link is connected as at 35 to the` lever arm 36, the same being operatively associatedwith the lever arm-16 and the lever arm'33iconnected-to the reciprocating rod or bar 31.

Asshown in Fig. 1, the left handdoor at the end of the wardrobe isprovided with the lever arms 32- and 16; likewise, the right hand door is similarly provided. Of.- the four.- intermediate doors, the left hand door of each pair is similarly' provided.

The left hand door 11, shown in Figivl, has associated with the lever mechanism, a-lever arm 40'that'is adjustablyrsecured` as at. 41 toan offset member 42, in turn adjustably secured at 43 to the arm 33 of the next adjacent door lever system that is operatively associated with the rod 31. The left. hand door l1v supports a-v lock` 44, whereby. the door maybe locked-inftheiclosed` position. With this type of arrangement', allof` the doors are locked when the left handdoor 1-1'` is locked. The leftk hand door 1l constitutesv a master door and all or" the other doors will be` opened or closed therewith.

In Fig. 2 there is illustrated a modified-form of the linvention in which the hinge connection and door pairing is different from-that shown in Fig. l and wherein the openingv or closing-.ot any door simultaneously secures the openingor closing of any other door. In this form of.A the inl vention, similar numerals of the one hundredA series indicateparts similar tothose shownin Fig. l. In this form of the invention, the track. 128 is` exactlyvr perpendicular to the planefof the doors when closed, while in the formshownV inf Fig. l, the track 28 is substantiallytransverse-to-` the plane of the doors when'closed. Guidetracks 128 also are of aslightly different character from that shown relative to guides 28 in Fig. 1. In; Fig. 2 the tracks are of double width-and are not of the full depth of the wardrobe.

I-nFig. 3 ofi the drawing, there-is-illustrated-a` form of-the invention andv the same-relates to a door structure. In said figure, -indicates the blackboard and 51 the peripheral rail orchannel frame work thereof. The door and the charrnel isv apertured; Extendingl throughf` the registering apertures is a bolt for board anchorage and board position adjustment.

Positioned below the blackboard is a chalk mold 59 suitably secured to the door, and said chalk rail projects beyond the plane of the blackboard so that in the hinging movement of the doors towards each other, said chalk rails serve as stops and prevent the doors from engaging each other when folded, thereby preventing black board in- Jury:

In Fig. 6 there is illustrated in greater detail element 36 and its operative association with the cooperatingelements.

The invention claimed is:-

1. .In awardrobe, the combination of a pair of doors, upper and lower lever arms for each door and pivotally connected upon a common axis to the-associatedfdoor and pivotally mounted upon a common axis at their other ends to the ceiling and floor respectively, hinge means connecting the adjacentl edges of the doors together for conjoint operation, a pair of spaced guides above the dooropening andextending transversely thereof, and a' vertically pivoted roller carried by one of the doors above the door opening and mounted between the guides.

2. In awardrobe, the combination of a pair of doors, upper and lower lever arms for each door and pivotally connected upon a common axis to theA associated door and pivotally mounted upon acommonaXis at their other ends to the ceiling and floor respectively, hinge means connecting the adjacent edges of the doors together for conjoint operation, a pair of spaced guides above the door opening and extending transversely thereof, averticallyfpivoted roller carried by one of the doors-above the door opening and mounted in the guides, and cushion means between the guides at each end thereof for cushioning roller and door movement` at each end thereof.

3.- Invawardrobe, the combination of pairs of` doors-havinghinged adjoining edges adapted to recede.v into the wardrobe when the doors are moved to openposition and having the adjoining edges ofdoorsof adjacent pairs in abutting relation when the doors are in closed position, a lever for each door pivotally connected at one end tothe door intermediate of and at an appreciable distance from the side edges thereof and mounted upon a pivot within the wardrobe, a reciprocating actuating.` member normally parallel to the doors whenclosed, and means connecting said member to-Aone ofthe levers of each pair of doors.

4. Ina` wardrobe,the combination of pairs of doors having hinged adjoining edges adapted to recede into vthe wardrobe when the doors are moved to open-.,positionand having the adjoiningl edges of doors.'` ofA adjacent pairs in. abutting relation whenthe doorszare in closed position, a lever for each door pivotally connected at one end to the door intermediate of and at an appreciable distance from the side edges thereof and mounted upon a pivot within the wardrobe, a reciprocating actuatingmernber normally parallel to the doors when closed, a link pivotally connected at one end toone door of each pair, a lever arm for each link andV pivotally connected to the other end thereof, andmeans operatively connecting said lever arm with the first mentioned lever and the member.

5.. In a Wardrobe, the combination of pairs of doors having hinged adjoining edges adapted to recede into the wardrobe when the doors are moved toopen position and havingthe adjoining edgesotdoorsof adjacent pairs in abutting. relation when the doors are in closed position, a. lever for each door pivotally connected at one end to the door intermediate of and at an appreciable distance from the side edges thereof and mounted upon a pivot Within the Wardrobe, a reciprocating actuating member normally parallel to the doors when closed, a link of adjustable length pivotally connected at one end to one door of each pair, a lever arm for each link and pivotally connected to the other end thereof, and means operatively connecting said lever arm with the rst mentioned lever and the member.

6. In a wardrobe, the combination of a plurality of and not less than three doors, at least two adjacent doors being hinged at their adjoining edges for recessional movement into the wardrobe when moved into open position, the adjoining edges of the doors including at least one of the paired doors having substantially abutting relation when the doors are closed, a lever for each door connected at one end to the door intermediate of and at an appreciable distance from the side edges thereof and mounted upon a pivot within the Wardrobe, means pivotally connecting each lever to its adjacent door, a reciprocatory actuating member normally parallel to the doors when closed, and means operatively connecting said member to each alternate door for simultaneous movement of all doors.

7. In a Wardrobe, the combination of a plurality of and not less than three doors, at least two adjacent doors being hinged at their adjoining edges for recessional movement into the wardrobe when moved into open position, the adjoining edges of the doors including at least one of the paired doors having substantially abutting relation when the doors are closed, a

lever for each door pivotally connected at one end to the door intermediate of and at an appreciable distance from the side edges thereof and mounted upon a pivot Within the wardrobe, a reciprocatory actuating member normally parallel to the doors when closed, and means connecting said member to each alternate door for simultaneous movement of all doors including a link pivotally connected at one end to each alternate door, and a lever arm for each link and pivotally connected to the other end thereof and operatively associated With the rst mentioned of the link connected doors for simultaneous movement of all doors.

8. In a Wardrobe, the combination of a plurality of and not less than three doors, at least two adjacent doors being hinged at their adjoining edges for recessional movement into the Wardrobe when moved into open position, the adjoining edges of the doors including at least one of the paired doors having substantially abutting relation when the doors are closed, a lever for each door pivotally connected at one end to the door intermediate of and at an appreciable distance from the side edges thereof and mounted upon a pivot Within the wardrobe, a reciprocatory actuating member normally parallel to the doors when closed, and means connecting said member to each alternate door for simultaneous movement of all doors including a link of adjustable length pivotally connected at one end to each alternate door, and a lever arm for each link and pivotally connected to the other end thereof and operatively associated with the first mentioned of the link connected doors for simultaneous movement of all doors.

ARTHUR L. LEONARD. 

